NorMel House Devotions

  Titus 1:5-7  “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you – if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain” (ESV) Elders are an important part of our church structure but why are they important? Who should be an elder? Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.” (ESV) That’s a pretty heavy responsibility! If men are to be put into an office where they are going to have to give an account for those under them, the standards for being a leader ought to be high, and so they are! Our text says, “For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above re...

  Titus 1:5-6 “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you – if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination .” ESV Paul wrote to Titus to set up new leadership in the churches because the Apostles would not be around forever. The standards given for the elders in the church are high and we ought not to lower God’s standards. These standards are high because elders are entrusted with God’s work. While perfection is not possible, elders must still have a pattern of life so that people cannot bring charges of wrongdoing against them. Their speech and conduct, in fact their whole lives, must show they have good moral and spiritual character so that they can set a good example for others. It’s interesting that Paul starts the list of requirements with family life. A man who cannot spiritually and mor...

Titus 1:5 “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order , and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” ESV God is a god of order. There is order in all creation because He is a God of consistent, complex and detailed design, intent and orderliness. Right from the beginning of creation God set in place an order for how things function and are done. Science very clearly shows the order He set in nature; there are patterns and laws to how things are made and how they function. Job 25:2 (NIV) says, “Dominion and awe belong to God; He establishes order in the heights of the heaven.” The laws of science and physics can be seen throughout all creation and all things have a set and orderly way of functioning. Our bodies, for example, are intricately created so that all parts have a set purpose. Because man sinned, chaos and brokenness came into all of creation, causing things to go wrong. When one little part of our body doesn’t function the way i...

Titus 1:4  “To Titus, my true son in our common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” In the time that Paul and Titus knew each other there was a lot of tension between Jews and Gentile converts. The Jews believed that all the customs they put in place should be upheld by the Gentile converts, especially circumcision. Paul defended the Gentile converts and uses Titus to show that Gentiles could become Christians and serve God without the use of several of the Jewish customs. Titus was a close and trusted companion to Paul, but he was also more than that. Titus was a Greek, converted by Paul’s ministry, therefore, Paul calls him “my child”. Brought into the family and united in a “common faith”, Paul considers him his spiritual child. The Family of Faith extends beyond distance, time, race or color. We are part of something far bigger than ourselves. Just like children need to be taught and educated, we too, are never actually “out of school”. ...

  Titus 1 : 1-3 "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness - a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at His appointed season  He brought His word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior " Ever been afraid of the dark? Or maybe you’ve had a child that was afraid of the dark? Being in the dark can be scary and it makes sense that the analogy is used in the Bible. Light reveals what was in darkness. Our sins are like the darkness, revealed by the light of the gospel, so that, by faith, through the working of the Holy Spirit, in the preaching of the gospel, we are exposed as sinners and redeemed. Light is used in the Bible as a symbol of holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, grace, hope and of God’s Word. This is in opposition to what darkness s...

  Titus 1:1-3 "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness -  a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at His appointed season He brought His word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior" Ever notice how sometimes time seems to fly by and other times it seems to drag? Our view of time is linear, and we see things in sequences of events. God, however, is timeless, and His timing in our lives is perfect. 2 Peter 3:8-9 says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the LORD, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” God is outside of time, He knows all th...

Titus 1:1-2 "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness -  a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie , promised before the beginning of time" When I was a child, I went through a phase where I lied about everything. It was so bad my siblings used to say, “If she says it three times you know for sure she’s lying.” Well, the Cretans were also liars. They lied so much that the word “Cretanize” meant “to lie”. At the beginning of Paul’s letter to Titus and the Cretans he wants them to know that God does not lie. Paul is emphasizing that God is truth, His word, spoken through Paul, is trustworthy and true, therefore, we can believe what Paul is going to tell us. The Bible tells us that God cannot lie or change. We see this in Numbers 23:19 where it says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His m...

 Titus 1:1  "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness " Our current society would have you believe that everyone can have their own truth. That what you’re feeling is the most important thing, however, Paul tells us this is not true. Right in the introduction he tells us, “For the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life”. Paul knows there is only one truth. There cannot be individual truths; there is only the truth of the gospel. In Paul’s time, and still today, there were people teaching false doctrine and people professing their faith but not allowing it to function in their lives. Paul is telling the readers that knowing the truth of the gospel must lead us to a life characterized by faith and good works. There are some in life that are always learning but they never come to the ...

 Titus 1:1  "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness" Today we take another look at the first verse of the book of Titus. Paul has identified himself as a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, and now he gives one of the reasons for his ministry. Paul tells us it is “for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of truth, that leads to godliness.” The word used here is ‘electos’, which means “the chosen of God.” The doctrine of election may be confusing, but it is biblical, essential and practical. In Ephesians 1: 4-6 we read, “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.” If we continue in Ephesians it...

Titus 1:1 "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness" Paul identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. You might be wondering what the significance of this is, so, let’s dive in! Literally, the Greek word Apostolos means ‘to send off’. The Bible uses the word to refer to someone sent on a mission, but also in reference to specific people. An apostle of Jesus Christ is someone taught by Christ that witnessed to His life, teaching and resurrection. Jesus chose twelve men to be apostles, to spread the gospel and to establish the early Christian church. They were called and commissioned by Christ to teach, train, and lead the churches, establishing the doctrine of salvation. In Ephesians 2 Paul tells us that we are all one in Christ, “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:20). In Ephesians 4 we learn tha...

Titus 1:1 "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness" Read Romans 6 Paul starts the letter to Titus with a surprising amount of information packed into his greeting. The first few verses tell us quite a bit about who he is and why he is writing. He starts off with telling us that he is a slave of God. Our translation uses the word servant but the original word, doulos, actually means slave. This is significant because he’s inferring that although he used to be a slave to sin, he has been bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and now is a slave of God. If we turn to the book of Romans, chapter six, Paul talks about what this means. He tells us, “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” He goes on to say in Romans 6:16, 18, “Don’t you know that when you offer yoursel...